Category Archives: Economic Development

It was true last year, and it’s truer still today: Lisa Boscola badly needs a primary challenge. Boscola is basically a Republican, has flirted with becoming a Republican, and her redrawn Senate district map opens up some space to challenge her from the … More after the jump →

…is never really going to be a valid argument in any land use debate. Just because some people invested (translation: bet) their money on a certain outcome doesn’t mean public policymakers have some responsibility to those people not to do anything that … More after the jump →

Rep. Mike Hanna nails it. The local property tax exemption for charitable organizations is already way too loose, and should become tighter. Property-tax exemptions should be distributed about as easily as manhole covers are tossed about. If not, more of … More after the jump →

New-to-Pennsylvania progressive organization Pennsylvania Working Families has been quietly plugging away this year, collecting signatures to put a local education control question on the ballot in Philly for this fall, and campaigining on minimum wage in suburban Philly Republican districts , and now they’re … More after the jump →

Last week, the Daily News reported on a quirk in the PA liquor code which allows vendors who own liquor licenses to use inexpensive $500 off-premise catering permits to serve alcohol at the temporary pop-up beer gardens that have been springing … More after the jump →

There is a lot to like about the city of Harrisburg’s new draft zoning plan. Raised height limits, lowered parking requirements, ease of administration, and the expansion of the downtown. There is one problem though which overshadows all of the rest -The … More after the jump →

Food trucks have acquired something of a yuppie brand in recent years, because yuppies like to buy the food, but on the business owner side mobile food vending is anything but a yuppie pursuit. It’s really hard work! Policymakers need … More after the jump →

There is a renewed push in city hall to pass a significant zoning code overhaul and I am really happy to hear it. The current code, after being amended 31 times between it’s adoption in 1950 and now, was explained to be, by city planner Geoffrey Knight, appearing … More after the jump →

This plan to create multiple different kinds of licenses for selling beer is dumb and probably not going to pass, but this is one of my favorite issues so let’s do a blog post about it anyway. The legislation at … More after the jump →

In Camp Hill, property taxes may go up. The district’s roughly $19.8 million proposed budget for the 2014-15 school year, which was reviewed by the school board on Monday, is about 10 percent greater than this year’s budget and contains a gap … More after the jump →